A Week At The Circus
by JauntyJabberwocky
Summary: One shot. Adella's in the wrong place at the wrong time, and winds up on an extended "field-trip" with the Joker and Harley. I fixed the layout.


_Author's note: Don't own Batman characters, just Adella. Blah blah blah. Found this today while sorting through my stuff, here I thought I had been too busy to actually type it up. Illustration to come on my deviant account. Delivered in a different format from usual, because it's fun to play around. Told from Adella's perspective, so with limited information known and a bit of a skewed view point. Adella is around fourteen at this time. _

A Week At The Circus

She wasn't entirely sure how she had gotten here. It was all somewhat of a blur, it had happened so fast.

"Try to remember. Remember, remember..." she coaxed herself, focusing so a few events would come through the clouds in her mind. She had been in the hallways again. She wasn't sure just how she had gotten out of her cell and into the hallways, but there she was. Then the alarms were hurting her head-

"Hey kid!" The monstrous smile snapped her out of her thoughts, all sharp teeth and wide painted lips. Somehow she had wound up outside of the asylum with these two.

"Why the long face?" he asked, but from the smile Adella guessed the Joker Monster didn't really care.

"Everything's a bl-"

"That's nice kid." he didn't even let her finish. She wasn't sure why he'd even asked.

"Dont'cha worry, Adella deary, you just stick with us. Arent'cha glad to be out of that dank old place?" the other woman was friendly enough, her smile normal. It didn't stretch her face and make it change shapes.

"I-I'm not s-supposed to be out here. I-I really ought to be back-" Joker spun on his bare heal and leaned down over her, shoving his face right up in front of hers.

"BE BACK? Why you ungrateful little," he grabbed her by the arm and squeezed, and she wriggled and squirmed without even thinking. Which only made it worse.

"We could have left you there, you know! You're _lucky _that good old Uncle J saw fit to take you with us!" She wished they had left her there, but didn't have time to respond before Harley was squealing with joy.

"We're hoooome!" she cooed, flitting about the place and then cartwheeling up to the chained doors of the fun house.

"Now where did I put that key?" Joker let go of her arm, and for a moment the world spun and grew dark for Adella. She stumbled and rubbed her arm, trying to see through the thick gray clouds her vision had become.

"Oooh, that's where it went! You're so smart Mista J!" she heard but couldn't see, and then flinched as a pair of smaller hands gripped her shoulders to push her forward.

"Come on, Adelly, we gotta get changed out of these mucky uniforms!" Adella moved her legs along, and decided perhaps it was best not to fight with them.

She sat on top of a pile of clothes, watching as a now black and red dressed Harley tore through the pile in search. Joker was off to the side adjusting his bow-tie with a smirk. Adella was keeping to herself as best she could, she certainly didn't want to upset the Joker Monster any more. She hugged her knees to her chest and stayed out of the way until Harley plopped down next to her.

"What color?" she asked, holding up two dresses. One was pink, the other purple. Adella blinked, but then pointed to the pink one.

"Here! Put this one on!" the dress was thrust into her lap as Harley stood to skip over to Joker. She glanced down at the dress in wonder for a moment. It looked almost like a ballet dress, a light pink unitard with dark pink criss-cross straps attached to a light pink poofed out skirt. The other two weren't paying attention, so she tugged off the over-sized Arkham uniform shirt and slipped into the dance dress. It was a bit snug, but still fit for the most part. She decided she liked it, a smile slipping onto her face.

"Look at you!" Harley was grinning, making Adella blush though the smile didn't fade.

"Come on, get up, show off!" she grinned, offering a hand to help her up and twirling her about. Adella giggled, keeping up with the twirls with ease.

"See, you look much better without the gray!" she pulled the dull gray fabric bow from Adella's hair and tied a new super large pink bow into the black curls instead. Then she ran to the pile to grab a pink parasol and ran back to hand it to Adella. Next she once more pushed Adella forward to a vanity full of make-up and got to work.

"There! Aint that better Mista J?" Harley grinned at last, and Adella caught a glance of white make up with pink swirls around her eyes and on her lips before she was spun to face the Joker.

"It's just missing," he pinched her checks playfully to make her giggle, "a smile!"

* * *

"NEXT!" Harley yelled, allowing a thin young man through the door. He had only a split second to glance about the place before he had to duck from the knife flying at his head, which stuck neatly into the wall as the Joker's laugh filled the room. Adella sat nearby, rather calm considering the body next to her with the ghastly smile.

"So, what are ya qualifications? What makes ya think you're good enough to work for the best of the best, the crowned prince of crime himself?" Harley circled around the guy casually.

"Well, I-" Adella had lost interest already in what this latest recruit might have to say. She took the risk of speaking up to ask,

"What do you need these people for anyways?" she wondered, and almost immediately wished she hadn't spoken when Joker turned to look at her.

"Why, for the Batman of course! He's bound to come flying around eventually!" he fluttered his hands like tiny wings as he spoke, but Adella's stare was oblivious.

"...Um...who?" now all eyes were on her in disbelief, and she glanced around and shrunk.

"The BATMAN!" Joker leaped from his chair to again stick his face in front of hers. She really hated it when he did that, but backing away did no good.

"The Bat-monster!" he grinned then, as if an idea had only just then occurred to him. He grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leaning sideways to explain,

"The Bat-monster. I thought you knew all about the monsters?" he actually seemed to wait for her to respond as if interested, even looking her in the eyes.

"Oh, well, n-not all of them. I just see them-" he cut her off, shaking as he spoke as if terrified and covering his face dramatically.

"The Bat-monster is the scariest monster in all of Gotham! It has the body of a man, but the head and wings of a great big scary bat! And it likes most to eat little girls. Little girls with curls much like yours." he tugged at one of them and let it spring back into place as an example, "So we hire some extra protection. You'd better hope they're good enough, when the Bat-monster decides to come sniffing around!" he threw his head back and laughed, obviously no longer afraid of the idea, then hopped up and returned his attention to the new recruits. Adella was a bit doubtful about how much of that was true, but she certainly didn't like the idea. Either way, she figured it might be best not to meet this bat-monster. Yes, probably for the best.

* * *

"Look! I drew you pictures!" Adella was so pleased with herself. Harley had given her some crayons and paper, so she drew their portraits.

"This one's for you, and this one's for you!" she smiled, handing her and Joker their pictures.

"Awe, thank you! I look so cute!" Harley turned it to Joker so he could see, and peaked over at the drawing of him. He looked at it a bit perplexed, a look Harley quickly shared.

"Hey Mistah J, since when have you had all those sharp teeth?" she asked.

"Since always." Adella chimed in before he could answer. Joker crumpled up the page and tossed it away,

"No good." he commented simply and walked away. Adella frowned and stared at the crumpled page, and Harley gave her a reassuring pat on the head before running off after him.

* * *

"Hey, what's with the umbrella?" one of the larger blokes with grease paint asked her.

"I don't know." she answered truthfully enough, giving it a thoughtful twirl. Joker had been working on something, she wasn't sure what, but he kept crumpling up pages and tossing them away. Harley had kept trying to cheer him, but couldn't, and Adella had avoided him all together.

"It's a parasol!" Harley chimed in, "you know, for tight-rope walking and stuff." that made the newer clown's eyes light up.

"Tight rope walkin, hu? That's quite a talent. Hey kid, lets see you walk the rope!" Adella was a bit surprised by that, but then they did have a whole circus set up. She had played on the trampoline a bit with Harley one of the days. That had been fun.

"Oh, I-I've never actually done that. I mean, I wouldn't-" she felt the long spindly fingers grasp her shoulder and stopped.

"What's going on?" the voice spoke behind her, making her freeze as a second hand came to her other shoulder and tightened. The others had likewise grown still with fright, so she imagined Joker Monster must not have looked very happy.

"How am I supposed to think…with all this RACKET?!" Everyone was nervous now, Adella kept her eyes on the floor, but a smiling Harley chimed in cheerfully,

"Adella was gonna walk the tight rope!" she clapped once in excitement.

"Oh, um, n-no-" she tried to argue but Joker monster was leaning down and over her tiny frame to give that sharp toothed grin.

"Why didn't you say so? Lets see it, kid!" the idea seemed to cheer him up, and he pushed her towards the rope walk. Adella wanted to argue, but now everyone was cheering and prompting her on. It didn't look too high up, not as high as the ones she'd seen on the television. She'd never done it before, but somehow she didn't think she had a choice. So with a gulp of breath she made her way over and begun to climb the ladder. At the top it looked so much higher, and she clutched the edge in terror.

"I…I don't think I can!"

"Aaaawe, come on kid, you can do it!" one of the henchmen encouraged, but she just shook her head, all but crying.

"The show must go on, kid." The unhappiness in Joker's voice made the room grow quiet, "Don't make promises you can't keep." She managed eye contact for only a moment and knew. There was only one way she was getting down, and she really didn't want to know what he'd do if she disappointed him. So instead she nodded. She rose. Spread her parasol. Forced a smile. Gave a bow to each side. Arms out, deep breath, parasol in hand. And she said a silent prayer. _Spirits, help me. I need you now._ She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to find that trance state.

"Hey boss, did it just get cold in here?"

"Sssh."

She opened her eyes, blank and black. On pointe, she then extended a leg and gracefully stepped out onto the rope. Eyes ahead. One foot after the other, parasol out. Confident. Graceful. And then the black died from her eyes like static, and suddenly she was falling. She only had time to gasp.

* * *

It still hurt, but she did her best not to scream. She couldn't help crying. Harley had made a make-shift splint for her broken arm, Joker Monster was ignoring her. Probably for the best.

"Ssssh, ssh, ssh. Don't be too loud, you don't wanna upset Mista J." she had cooed, and Adella nodded and did her best to stifle her sobs. She had passed out when she hit the ground, or something. Didn't matter now. What mattered is the Joker Monster was ignoring her. She wanted to go home. She didn't want to play this game anymore. No one was noticing her. It was now or never. She got up, back to the wall, looking both ways, and began to make her way out.

"Hey kid, where you going?" one of the henchmen caught her.

"I-I…h-have to go to the bathroom…" she lied, clutching her arm to keep it still. He didn't seem to believe her, but he lowered his voice and actually sounded concerned.

"I've got a cousin around your age. Go get that arm taken care of, kid. Don't look back." She nodded, and ran.

* * *

Why was this amusement park so big? She must have run in circles so many times, she just had no idea where she was. All she wanted was to go home, she never wanted to leave. She could swear she passed that cotton candy stand five times already, her arm hurt so bad, she was tired, she just wanted to go. A shadow passed over her, making her jump, spin, back to the wall of the stand. It was here! Standing right there! The terrible shadow with pointed ears and terrifying glowing eyes. She lifted the open parasol as if it might defend her and let out a scream as her knees gave way.

"D-Don't eat me!" she sobbed, legs refusing to get up and run.

"Adella, I'm not going to eat you." It spoke with a rasp. It knew her name? How did it know her name? She peaked over the parasol in confusion.

"I'm here for the Joker." She took a moment to comprehend that, but then nodded.

"H-He's in the…t-the tent. With t-the…circus…stuff…and the tightrope," she whispered the last word, and the Bat-monster crouched before her.

"I know. The gate's that way.", he pointed with a wing-tip, "The officers are on their way. They'll take you home."

"Y-you don't…eat kids?" she asked in a tiny voice, beginning to edge away toward the gate.

"Don't believe what Joker tells you." And with the swish of his wings he was gone, into the shadows. Adella didn't understand, but she didn't care either. She was leaving.

* * *

The city was passing by the window. Adella watched from the backseat and just felt relieved to be going back to Arkham. The lights of the city danced in the dark, and she smiled at the show as the world began to spin. Somewhere in the front seat the officer was trying to talk to her in a reassuring voice, but she couldn't make out the words. Eventually he must have stopped trying. She was going home, a painted smile on her face.

* * *

_End Notes: How did Joker know Adella __sees__ monsters? Harley was actually the one to notice, as she's __the one with the background in psychology. She picked up on it interacting with Adella in the rec-room, and told Joker about it. Which is what gave him the idea to tell her Batman is actually a monster. __How did Batman know she'd be there? He's the god-damn Batman. But seriously, he was informed that she had escaped with them, and that as a model patient it was likely she was forced into going with them and would return of her own free will. He was also warned about her monster delusions by her therapist, who thought it would be an extremely bad idea for Batman to approach her considering. _


End file.
